【Profile】 ◆Name Higa Mitsuru, Dr., Eng. ◆Educational background Dr. Eng., 1991, Tokyo Institute of Technology ◆Field of research Functional polymer materials

【Research subject】

High-performance Membranes in Water Treatment and Energy Production.

We have prepared many types of high-performance membranes from block copolymers and graft copolymers, and proposed novel chemical engineering systems using the membranes in water treatment and energy productions. The subjects of our research are as follows:
(1) polymer electrolyte membranes for direct methanol fuel cells, (2) ion-exchange membranes for electrodialysis (desalination and water treatment) and reverse electrodialysis (energy production from salinity gradients), (3) ion-barrier membranes for forward osmosis and pressure retarded osmosis processes (water treatment and energy production), (4) charge mosaic membrane with high salt permselectivity (water treatment), and (5) external stimuli-responsive charged membranes for smart sensors and intelligent drug delivery systems.


Fig. Reverse electrodialysis system (RED) for energy production.